15/1/1 - 15/1/4

I seem to be doing more of these weekly updates, that's not a good sign. I was kind of tied up this week by holidays and friends. We had a situation where some friends needed to spend the week in our guest room, which threw off my gym schedule. 

On the first, Thursday, I was talked into "running the stairs" by my wonderful SO. This entails running up and down the flights of seats at the Harvard Stadium. There are 37 sections, I made it through about 25 before my quads started to just stiffen and give out on me. 

Could barely walk the next day, thanks. 

Saturday, the 3rd, went in to the gym even though my calves were still rocks. Worked up to a heavy clean and jerk. 275 felt great on the second attempt, the first one stayed forward the whole way. Hadn't been setting up properly. Hit 285 for an 8lb PR. 

Did a 15 minute workout afterwards where you work for 30 seconds then take 30 seconds off. Just speed work on clean and jerk at 105. Got 93 reps in 15 minutes, hello volume. 

Sunday, the 4th, went in to work out one last time with my weightlifting coach. She's moving for a bit for work, so wanted to get in and hang out with her one more time. Worked up to a heavy snatch. Hit 202, 207, and then 210.5 for a 5.5 lb PR. Got 215 up in front on attempt 1, then threw it over my head on attempt 2. Didn't want to take another attempt though, will save that for later. 
Hit some paused front squats and called it a day. 

Two PR's over a weekend is pretty good for me. 

W2D3 : 14/12/14

Snatch Singles: 3 @ 60%, 2 @ 70%, 2 @ 75% 2 @ 80%, 1 @ 85%, 1 @ 90%
Clean and Jerk Singles: 3 @ 60%, 2 @ 70%, 2 @ 75% 2 @ 80%, 1 @ 85%, 1 @ 90%
Front Squats: 2 Doubles at 90%

Today was the first time I was able to get up to 90%. Starting to get up to the big numbers. Good times. Had a buddy in the gym with me today, it was good to have some lifting partners there. 

Snatches  went well. 90% was 195lbs and it went up super easy. Will put video of it up once it uploads. Felt too easy. Threw 205lbs on the bar and got that up pretty easily as well. That was nice as I haven't put over 200 up in a while. It didn't feel like a max either. PR hunting is going to be fun in a few weeks. 

Clean and Jerk went smoothly as well. 90% was 256. I hit that rather smoothly. Threw on some more weight just for the hell of it and then hit 277 without much trouble. Will put video down below as well. 

Front Squat hit the first double at 270. Which was great, as I failed rather hard on that on Friday. For the second set, I went to exhaustion. Got 4 reps at that weight before I had to drop the bar. 

Snatch Video

Clean and Jerk Video

W2D1 : 14/12/11

Snatch 5x2 @ 158-178lbs [75-85%]
Snatch Pulls 4x3 @ 195-215lbs [~100%]
Clean Complex @ 205
Pause Squats 5x2 @ 275-300 [~75%]

So, I think my week one numbers were low. My phone's google sheet doesn't update when I change the formulas. It's kind of annoying. On the plus side, this week's weights felt much better than week one's. 

Snatches felt great. I hit the first rep of the last double as a power snatch, it just went up so easily. I reset and hit two more full snatches to make sure I was getting everything out of the workout. 

I subbed in a Clean Complex that our stength coach had programmed into the class instead of just doing the power cleans. It was more volume work than pure intensity work(which is what the power clean is supposed to be, I think), but it was still a little fun stuff to sub in and get some class time. 

The complex was : 2 hang power clean, 2 power clean, 2 hang clean, 2 front squat. Hit 135, 185, 205 then called it a day. 

 Pause Squats were much better than last week. I don't think my legs were anywhere near as tired as last time. The 275 was easy. I sat down there with 300 for a good 3-4 seconds before firing up. Only the last rep was anything close to difficult. 

W1D3 : 14/12/7

Snatch Singles: 3 @ 60%, 3 @ 70%, 2 @ 75% 2 @ 80%, 3 @ 85%
Clean and Jerk Singles: 3 @ 60%, 3 @ 70%, 2 @ 75% 2 @ 80%, 3 @ 85%
Front Squats: 2 Singles at 90%

Wasn't really feeling too motivated to get into the gym today, after a long night of hard cider drinking last night. But, finally got in before dinner. 

The weights went up rather easily today. Not going to lie, 85% felt great on both Snatch and Clean and Jerk. I walked out the last attempt at each lift, which had to be rather hilarious to see. They weren't pretty. But, they went up smoothly, it was just the lockouts that seemed to give me a bit of trouble. 

Front Squats were cake. I think I lowballed my numbers here. I hit the first single at 270 with no effort. Actually took the second single for a double, because it just felt that good. 

The only thing bothering me today is my hands. The cold and dry weather is affecting them as I spend more time on the barbell. I've bought some hand recovery lotion that I've been applying nightly, so let's see how they feel next Friday. 

Back to CF classes for a few days now. 

W1D1 : 14/12/4

Snatch 5x3 @ 145-165lbs [70-80%]
Snatch Pulls 4x4 @ 185-205lbs [~100%]
P Clean & P Jerk 5x1 @ 205 [75%]
Pause Squats 4x3 @ 275 [~75%]

Snatches were feeling pretty good. My chest/shoulders are a bit tired from a goat workout last night with a ton of ring dips, but they held together alright under the light weights. 
Snatch Pulls, I kind of changed the programming here. I did slow pulls to the knees and then paused for a two count and then finished the pull. So, it's more of a technique + strength exercise. These are bruuuutal. Just really focusing on staying on the heels, stretching the hams and glutes. Buuuurning.
Power Clean and Power Jerk are always fun. I hate power variations, because I think they're lazy. Truth is that power variations of these movements teach you to move the bar in a different manner. You have to pull the bar to a particular height that is a lot further than your usual receiving position. Variation is key sometimes in these uber technical classic movements.
Pause Squats were depressing. I'm still riding a couple miles each way to work and to the gym on the bike, which fries my legs. I try to tell myself it doesn't, but at 275, this first set was a struggle. They got better and I may have survived at 315, but I was not ready to try it out. The 3 other sets went better and better, as I haven't done pause squats in a while. 

2014/10/04

Today we were told to find out Olympic total. That's what my lazy lifting was going to be anyway, so I went to class to do it.

Had some trouble with snatches this morning. Everything was out in front. Had to walk forward to clear up so of my attempts and all of my cues were not helping. Still managed to hit 195 lbs and then jumped to 205. I figured that i was already over body weight, might add well try something big. Missed 205 by an inch and then couldn't get 207 to stay put. Lost them both forward, kind of frustrating.

Cleans went really well. Hit 260 easily and then made 270 on the second attempt. Took some effort and readjustment to get out of the hole with it, but that's an easy front squat for me, so I just grunted it up. The jerk would have been red lighted. Like a two inch press out, but I'll take it as an ugly gym PR.

That's a new gym total of a little over 211 kilos. A good day to be sure.

2014/09/19

Back in the gym for a Friday session. 

Snatch doubles off the blocks. Right above the knee. 

Worked up from 135 in quick doubles. Hit 170 for a good double. Missed 185, hit 185, missed 185 pretty bad. 

Then the workout which was just awful. One of those good awfuls where it starts to get ahead of you and you hold on for dear life to keep up.

10 AMRAP
Snatch @ 155 lbs
3 Strict Pulls Ups
7 Strict HSPU

So, I'm reading over the programming blog now. That was supposed to be 5 hand stand push ups. I really should check the board before I do these things. 

Those last two HSPUs would have made a difference. The shoulders were obviously the first thing to fall apart during the whole process. Didn't actually make it through even the third round before having to switch to kipping HSPUs. 

2014/08/12

Back from a weekend holiday, feeling pretty fat. 

Gym session was one of the departures from normal CrossFit programming that I've become a big fan of. A while back I discussed why I'm not a fan of high rep complex movements for time. My strength coach is apparently of the same mind. We've been approaching workouts like Grace(30 C&J for time) and Isabelle(30 Snatches for time) without the clock running. 

This gives you all the time you need to choose a weight that you can finish 30 reps at. Meaning, the athlete gets to just hunker down and go to town on a movement to figure out the kinks. You get to train your muscle memory as a coach walks around and picks at your weaknesses. 

I actually didn't finish the 30 reps. We had about 20-25 minutes and that just wasn't enough time for me.. I'm slow. Did hit 20 reps at 155 with only two misses forward. Each miss was just a timing thing, felt rushed and let the bar float in front. The rest all felt great. 20 reps at 75% was a good day. 

Went for a short run afterwards, cause cardio.

Baystate Competition

Well, the competition has come and gone.  I think it went rather well. 

Weigh in was supposed to start at 1, so we went over at about 1:15 and then sat there til 1:45 or so waiting for someone from the organization to come into the room to weigh us. All 17 of us 85+ kg lifters just sat around and shot the shit with each other till the one guy showed up.

We were supposed to start lifting at 3, so we started at 4:30 or so. After we started, it went pretty well. We all got scolded when someone had the audacity to bleed on the bar. Oh the bars, if you have no lifted on an Eleiko bar, you really should. The difference is amazing, it spins so beautifully. Starting your third pull is just a brilliant thing. 

Snatches were... eventful. First attempt at 88 was too far forward, but I walked it out. 90 was too far backwards, but I dropped deeper into my squat and locked it out. Two ugly lifts. Third one though, oh, the third one was what you look for in a lift. It felt beautiful. 92 never felt so solid. Sadly, that is the only lift my lady friend did not video tape. Gods bless her. 

Clean and jerks were far too light. I sold myself short here. I wanted to go 6 for 6, I said that. Coach J told me to. Coach Everett says to do it. So, I did it. But, I went really low on my first attempt at 108. I literally stood up with the bar and threw it over my head with ease. Second attempt was 110. Still pretty easy. By this point, I was getting upset with myself. My books said to go for 112... I went up to 114 just to get a little more difficult. Still easy. The jerk was a bit challenging, but that's it. Just challenging. 

I should have gone heavier, but as it stands, I hit my gym total in a legit competition. I went 6 for 6 with my lift attempts. And I had an amazing time. The camaraderie with gained amongst the other lifters was awesome. Having some folks from our gym come out to cheer for us was just a great show of support. I can't thank my coaches and the lady enough. I had a great time and I can't wait for the next one. 

2014/07/06

Today was a nice quiet morning in the gym. I wanted to get in as it was a week out from my competition. Lady friend went out on a run, so I had the place to myself. That means heavy metal and heavy weights.

Worked up in weights to three singles at a weight between my first and second attempts for 3x1. So, an 88 kilo snatch and a 113 kilo clean and jerk. Both felt extremely comfortable and I'm liking my attempts going into the competition.

Did a few sets of front squats to kill time afterwards. Worked up to a triple at 125 kilos. Nice and easy. Just spent the whole day with weights that were heavy but comfortable. Building that confidence layer.

Mock Meet - Lift Videos

We took videos of all our lifts. So, here's the 93 snatch and 113 clean and jerk. 

2014/06/28 - Mock Meet

Today we our Mock Meet to let us try out our lifts that we want to hit at the meet on the 14th. So, we slipped into our singlets and hit a couple heavy pulls.

My snatches went well. Opened at 84, nice simple lift that I know I can hit. Moved up to 88 and pretty much power snatched it. Finished with 93 and felt pretty awesome about the lift. I'm comfortable there, probably don't want to go any higher if I plan on going 6/6.

Cleans went alright. Opened at 106 for an easy lift to get on the boards. Moved to 113 for an easy clean but the jerk was a little iffy. Don't think it'd get redlighted, but it'd be close. Wanted to go out with a bang, so I upped it to 121. Was only supposed to go for 120 which should have been close. The jerk was just ugly, should not have upped it so far. Should have settled for 118. Live and learn though. That third attempt will be a game time decision.

All in all, felt pretty good about my attempts. I'd be happy with those numbers at the meet. I'm not planning on medaling here, just want to get out on the platform and hit some lifts. I'm pretty pumped about it. Plus, I look awesome in the singlet.

2014/06/27

Fun workout tonight. Was planning on just going in for mobility but the WoD intrigued me too much.

So the workout lasted thirty minutes.
EMOTM
1-10
Even : two power snatches
Odd : 8 push ups and 15 second plank
11-20
Even : power snatch and ohs
Odd : push up/ plank
21-30
Even : snatch
Odd : push up/ plank

Used 95lbs for power snatches. Wanted to stay light and just wok technique. Didn't want to tire out for tomorrow... But I also like heavy things. So, for the singles at the end, I added 20lbs per round.

Ended with probably the best feeling 195lb snatch I've ever landed. It just felt great. Weighed in at 195 today, so that's a nice bodyweight life right there.

2014/06/21

Got in for a morning WoD today. Looked like a fun one, I was incorrect.

15 minutes to find a heavy snatch single. Hit 185 pretty easily but missed two attempts at 205. Not enough warm up time.

5 rounds for time of:
7 Snatch Grip Deadlifts
5 Hang Power Cleans
3 OHS
10 Burpees

7-5-3 had to be done unbroken, so no fixing the grip or dropping. This completely fried my hips and quads on the reset of each hang power clean.
Stopped on fourth round at 10:42. Just didn't want to strain something and too many parts were hurting.

2014/06/16

Started the day of right by getting there an hour early to get some lifting in.

Worked a complex of power snatch + 2 snatches from 95 - 155, progressing by ten pound increments.
Then switched to power clean + clean + 2 jerks from 165 - 205 in ten pound increments.

Class was some time under tension weighted push ups and planche. Much more painful than you'd think. Exposed s major weakness in my core. Will need to spend more time on that static hold.

Finished with 600m x4. Splits were 1:26, 1:30, 1:31, and 1:26. Not a huge fan of cardio but it serves a purpose.